A ceremony was held for the maiden flight of the first NH90 to be assembled by Eurocopter Espana at its facility in Albacete.

Rheinmetall Group has received a follow-up order to supply some 700 high-performance sensors for an identical number of weapon stations destined for a variety of vehicles that will significantly enhance the self-defence capabilities of numerous different vehicles.

The Iveco - Oto Melara Consortium and the Land Armament Directorate of the Italian Ministry of Defense have presented the new amphibious armoured vehicle Veicolo Blindato Anfibio, the latest of the famous Centauro Family.

The US Air Force and prime contractor Lockheed Martin have launched the first official class of F-35A student pilots through their flight training program at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, a long-awaited milestone for the Joint Strike Fighter program.

The F-35 Joint Program Office has temporarily grounded the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B variant following a problem with the fueldraulic system on one aircraft on January 18.

The UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed its order for the next prototype stage of development of a revolutionary high performance, lightweight diesel engine intended for marine outboard applications on the fast, rigid inflatable boats used by the Royal Navy (also used by the RAN).

Satellite payload developer ITT Exelis is working with the USAF Research Lab to shrink the size of the Global Positioning System's navigation payload - an effort to make it more efficient to manufacture and launch.

Elbit Systems has received an approximately US$35 million contract from the Israel Ministry of Defense for the development of advanced features for Unmanned Aircraft Systems to be supplied within three years.

The first Wildcat attack helicopter to be delivered to the Royal Navy has successfully completed its first flight at Yeovil in Somerset on January 28, 2013.

Eurocopter has delivered another strong performance in 2012, with an all-time record turnover of EU$6.3 billion.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.237 of 24 January 2013 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has outlined an updated security statement, Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia's National Security in a speech yesterday, January 23.

With the anticipated release of the RFT proper in the third quarter of this year, Defence has sought comments from industry on the draft RFT for Air 5428 Phase 1, the acquisition and support of a pilot training system (PTS).

Local Australian SME W&E Platt has been awarded a contract to supply a large quantity of manually operated ring mounts to the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Last week's Australia-Britain Ministerial talks were prefaced by the signing of a Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty by British Defence Secretary Phil Hammond and Australia's Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

As one of Australia's new mutual banks, Defence Bank, is establishing Australia's first video call centre at its Melbourne head office.